Alone
by growabrain
Summary: Alan Blunt is kidnapped. Alex has to save him. My first ever fanfic. Not good at summaries. Story's all right though. AlexxOC but only hints at it so far so its ok for anyone who doesn't like pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**My first ever fanfic people so bear with me**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider**

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Alex Rider was biking through the park on his way home on an March afternoon after a long, uneventful day at school. He was taking the long way around, through the middle of the park where the pine trees grew, and blocked out the sounds of the outside world. Here, there were no sounds of traffic, of arguing commuters and crying babies. Here there was only peace.

After everything he had seen, Alex found himself constantly seeking isolation. He had seen more violence, more hatred, and more killing than many adults see in a lifetime. Returning back to school and the life he had once known did not provide him with the sense of sanctuary he was seeking. What he really wanted, was someone who understood him.

Sure, he had friends at school. He had Jack at home. But no one could understand the horrors he had witnessed. The betrayal he had felt. The loneliness he experienced.

This was why Alex so enjoyed the serene trees in the center of the park. They were strong, dependable, stable. So unlike the way his last year had been. He loved riding through the silent forest, absorbing the rich pine smell from the trees around him and enjoying the shade.

He was almost at the end of the path through the trees when Crawford suddenly stepped out in front of him. Having been lulled into automatic pedaling by his sense of inner peace, Alex had to brake hard and swerve at the same time to avoid crashing into the agent. He came to a clumsy stop inches away from Crawford.

"If you want to be bowled over by oncoming traffic, might I suggest the highway? It would probably hurt less," Alex grunted as be pushed his bike back from his uncomfortably close position to Crawford.

"Alex, we need your help," Crawford said simply, as though this were the most expected thing in the world.

"Sorry, my New Year's resolution was to stay alive. Find someone else." Alex wasn't in the mood to deal with MI6. But he was glad he wasn't talking to Mrs Jones or Alan Blunt.

"I'm afraid we're not asking Alex." Mrs Jones stepped out from behind a tree a foot away from the one Crawford was behind.

So much for that.

"This must be my lucky day. Let me guess which one Alan Blunt is gonna step out from." He gestured to the pines behind Mrs Jones'.

Crawford sighed. "No he isn't Alex."

"That's why we need your help." Mrs Jones explained.

"You really must keep an eye on him during these picnics. It's a big park. Have you considered one of those child leashes?" He really wasn't in the mood to talk to either of them.

"He's been abducted."

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**Thats all I have right now.**

**Reviews please!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: see chapter 1**

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you guys like it.**

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Alan Blunt abducted? This he didn't expect. Maybe the kidnapping of the Prime Minister or some crazed foreign millionaire wanting to bomb the world, but Alan Blunt abducted was on the bottom of his list of possibilities.

Still. He wasn't buying into this. Not again.

"Well that really is a shame. Good luck finding him. Now if you would excuse me, I have a pile of homework waiting to be done, then a couple hours of doing nothing but being a normal teenager. Not your little puppet spy. So, bye bye." Alex waved his hand to emphasize his point and started to push his bike around them.

"No Alex." Mrs Jones reached out and grabbed the handlebars of his bike. "Listen to us. We really need your help."

Alex sighed. What else could he do? Slap her hands away and ride home? They knew where he lived. Tell Jack? They'd send her away. Go to the police? That was such a stupid idea, he wondered why it had even entered his brain. Cause a big scene? There was no one around, and they'd make up a lie to cover it up. They controlled his life.

"Fine." He threw his hands up in the air to show his defeat. "Only because Blunt is such a dear friend and I'd hate to see him in any kind of pain."

"Come along." Mrs Jones let go of his bike and started striding down the path while unwrapping a fresh peppermint. Alex shook his head in dismay, already regretting his decision and silently cursing Alan Blunt for being born. He slowly started pedaling after Mrs Jones, with Crawford walking briskly behind him.

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"We think this man took Blunt."

Mrs Jones slid a photo across the dull metal table towards Alex. It was a black and white picture of a man in his fifties. His head was slightly turned to the left and he looked ready to say something. His hair was greying and there were wrinkles lining his forehead. He looked like a typical middle aged man. Yet there was something dully familiar about him. He looked closer at the face on the photograph, but the name slipped from the grasp of his mind just as he had grasped it.

"So...who is he? I know I'm remarkable, but I can't read minds." Alex was still in a bad mood. The bleak empty room reminded him of a morgue and this did not improve his spirits.

"His name is Evan Blunt. He's Alan's brother."

Alex was shocked. Alan Blunt had a psycho kidnapping brother? And what could Blunt have done to make his brother mad enough to abduct him?

This was insane.

"Right." What else was there to say?

"He owns a ski resort in the Canadian Rocky mountains. We think he's taken Alan there." Mrs Jones slid another photo across the polished surface of the table. It was a picture of some skiers and snow-boarders at a ski resort. "We're going to send you there with a group of school children on a ski trip. They will have no knowledge of your identity or your purpose."

"Yes it would be a shame to involve the poor innocent teenagers in a dangerous mission that has nothing whatsoever to do with them," Alex said spitefully. Why him? Why no one else? Why couldn't they press-gang some other teenager into doing their dirty work?

"A contact will be in touch." Mrs Jones countered smoothly, ignoring his comment.

"Wait a second. Isn't it a little bit late in the year for skiing? It's March! Aren't you meant to go skiing during January or February?" Though he didn't like the idea of going all the way to North America to save Blunt, he enjoyed skiing and snow-boarding and he didn't want to be falling through ice. There was also the small problem of freezing to death.

"March is still winter in Canada. You'll be fine. But remember Alex, you're never too young to die."

"Well, since I'm obviously not too young to risk my life doing unbelievably dangerous things the majority of adults don't even dream of doing, let alone do themselves, I'd say that's a very valid and fairly obvious point. But thank you for your concern." There really was no point in being polite. What more could they do to him?

Mrs Jones answered by unwrapping another peppermint and sticking it into her mouth.

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**How was it? Reviews please! Was going to put Smithers in but am drawing a blank with gadgets. Any suggestions?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**It's an update people! But it'll probably be the last one for a while 'cause I'm going on vacation! I LOVE THE SUMMER!**

**Anyway, enjoy.**

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The heavy metal door swung open and Smithers walked in holding a snowboard.

"Hello Alex."

"Hello Smithers." Smithers was the closest person Alex had to a friend in the merciless organization. "What have you done with the snowboard?"

"Oh not much. Just made it into a hover-board as well." Smithers grinned at Alex like a young child who had drawn a picture for their parents. Mrs Jones stood up without a word and left the room. Smithers ignored her abrupt departure and subconsciously sat in her place opposite Alex as he started explaining his latest invention.

"It runs on electromagnetic energy but you can charge it with solar power. The top is covered with solar cells. You steer it as you would steer a snowboard. You lean forward to go faster and you lean back to slow down. Lean left or right to turn. You turn it on and off with this," Smithers pulled out a black leather belt with a large silver buckle in the shape of a snow-boarding brand. "Tap the buckle twice." He held it out to Alex across the table and set the board on the floor next to them.

Alex took the band from Smithers' hammy hand and tapped the buckle twice with the nail of his index finger.

Immediately the board next to him whirled to life and lifted off the ground, hovering about a foot off the floor.

Alex stared, amazed.

"Put it on. It has a built in sensor that will detect your center of gravity and help you stay on the board."

Alex threaded it through the belt loops of his jeans and clicked the buckle in place, then started staring at the hovering board again.

"What are you waiting for?" Smithers asked him impatiently. Alex looked up at him dumbly. He waved a hand at the board that was still hanging in the air. "Get on!"

Automatically, Alex did as he was asked, stepping on the board. He stood there without moving, trying to get used to the alien sensation of hovering. Then, he slowly slid his right foot nearer to the front of the board and gingerly put some of his weight on it.

The board started moving forward at a snail's pace. Gaining confidence, Alex put a little more weight on his right foot and propelled himself towards the door. Just as he was about to slam into the solid gray metal, he swung himself around like he would with a snowboard, bringing himself back to his chair where he leaned back and stopped himself.

"It's...incredible. How...does it work?" Alex stuttered.

"Oh I could bore you all day with unnecessary details of its intricate inner workings but you have a flight to catch and I have other things to bore you with. Here," Smithers dug in his pocket and handed him a pendant in the shape of a heart on a piece of leather string.

Alex lifted one eyebrow.

Smithers shrugged. "I didn't know what other shape to make it. Besides, if anyone asks you, your girlfriend gave it to you and she has one that matches it." He smirked at Alex. "It might disappoint a few people though."

Alex blushed and studied his fingernails.

"The point is, it's an alarm device. Tap it twice and we'll pull you out. And...this," Smithers continued as his fished in his other pocket and revealed a ring. "Also from your girlfriend. It's a very powerful magnet. Twist it to the right," he twisted the smaller section of the ring, which Alex hadn't even realized was there, and it flew out of Smithers' hand and on to the table. " And it will be attracted to the nearest piece of metal. Twist it to the left," he clicked the ring to the left twice and the ring propelled itself upwards. "And it will repel any metal. It will even repel bullets."

Alex reached up and twisted the ring back to its original position and slipped it onto his middle finger. He then took the necklace from the surface of the table and put it around his neck, making sure it was hidden under his shirt.

"You just want me to get a girlfriend don't you Smithers?" Alex asked him jokingly.

Smithers smirked. "I think a girlfriend would do you some good. Then you wouldn't feel so alone." The smirk was replaced with concern.

"I'm fine. I don't think anyone could understand me. Thanks for caring though. Thanks for everything." Alex smiled at Smithers appreciatively.

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**Longer chapter people! Thanks for the reviews. Keep reviewing please!**

**I got the hoverboard thing from the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld which I recommend everyone to read.**

**This one revolved around the gadgets, hope it wasn't too stretched out for anyone. I'll be putting more action and stuff in soon. And I'll be introducing my own characters soon, which I'm looking forward to.**

**Take care everyone!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing**

**Woah another update. On a roll here. Trying to do as much as I can before leaving.**

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"Last call for flight BA2783 to Bangkok, Thailand."

"Honey, where are our passports?"

"Mommy, I gotta pee!"

"Flight CP9008 is now boarding."

"Take care. Bring me something back from Mexico."

"Over here Uncle Adam!"

Alex was in Heathrow airport. People were coming and going, giving him a headache with all the reunions and announcements. He looked around for their trip leader.

After his session with Smithers, Alex was given a large camping backpack and driven to the airport. A quick check of the bag showed him MI6 had been through his closet, and that Smithers had included the ski suit and goggles from his trip to Point Blanc. He was now with a group of teenaged stranger to both him and each other.

The twenty teenagers stood in a loose circle around their two adult leaders in the waiting area by gate 28.

"My name is Jack, and this is my wife Megan. We'll be your ski trip leaders for the next two weeks. Now, we're just going to do a roll call just to make sure everyone's here. So..." the adult started rattling out names from the list in his hand like he was in a race.

"Alex McBride?"

Alex started at his cover surname. "Here," he answered quickly and tuned himself out again.

Jack finished the roll call and inhaled deeply. "Now that that's over, we have an hour before we have to board. Go shop or eat or something, but be here in exactly..." he trailed off as he studied his watch. "Fifty minutes. Clear?"

There were a few mumbles of agreement from the group of fourteen and fifteen year olds as they each wandered off individually, wondering what they could do with people they had never met.

Alone, Alex walked aimlessly along the lines of duty free shops, looking vacantly through windows at souvenirs that nobody needed, but bought anyway. At the end of the row was a bookstore, and he strode in, deciding to buy a novel to pass the ten hour flight to northern Canada.

Flipping through the shelves for an interesting story, Alex worked his way across the young adult section without even looking to see where he was going. He picked out a book randomly and started reading the back as he stepped forward. Inevitably, he found himself barreling into somebody.

"Sorry. My bad," Alex apologized automatically, as he regained his balance. He looked up to see if the victim was all right and was shocked at what he saw.

It wasn't Mrs Jones. It wasn't Crawford. It wasn't anyone from Scorpia or any other enemy he had. Who he saw threw him in a way none of those people ever could.

It was a girl.

A very attractive girl.

Alex stared at her for a second, then came to his senses and looked down, studying his shoelaces. "Are...are you OK?" he managed to stutter.

"I'm fine," she answered smoothly. There was a slight hint of amusement in her voice. After a short pause, she asked "You're on the ski trip too, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he muttered. So he was going to see her probably everyday for the next two weeks. He tried to figure out whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, but his mind was blank.

"I'm H...Heidi. Heidi Marsden," she seemed to stumble over her name, as if it were foreign. Maybe she was as nervous as he was. She offered him her hand.

"Alex...McBride," he replied, remembering his fake last name just in time, and shook her hand. He mentally prepared himself, then lifted his head and looked at her again.

Heidi could only be described as stunning. She had long, luscious dark brown hair that flowed down to the middle of her back in waves, and was only a few inches shorter than him. She was thin, but healthy and her skin was lightly tanned. Her face had Asian features, yet she obviously wasn't pure blooded Chinese. She was Eurasian. But what struck him the most about her were the icy blue-grey irises, gazing out at him from eyes that had a mixture of emotions that he couldn't identify.

"So what've you got?" she asked him as she released his hand, nodding at the paperback under his other arm.

"Uh, some story about some teenager who has to save the world," he said as his eyes skimmed the blurb. The irony of it almost made him nauseous.

For some reason, Heidi seemed to share this. But she hid this with a forced smile. "The things people come up with these days." She glanced at her watch. "Better head back. You gonna buy that?"

"No way." Alex practically threw the novel back onto the shelf, happy to get it out of his hands.

"C'mon. Jack the perfectionist might blow a fuse if we're late," Heidi joked, grinning at him. Alex grinned back at her, realizing simultaneously that her accent seemed to be a fusion of American and British, and that she looked pretty when she smiled.

Very pretty.

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"Hey dude, I'm Jude."

Alex looked up from the uneventful view out the window of the plane's wing and saw a tall, teenager with shaggy blond hair under a black baseball cap and light gray eyes. He was wearing baggy jeans and an oversized navy hoodie with the logo and name of a snowboard company sprawled across the front in white.

"Alex."

"'Sssuup Alex?" Jude drawled lazily in his North American accent as he lowered himself into the seat next to him.

"Not much. Just waiting for takeoff," Alex shrugged, immediately liking Jude. After six words, Jude had expressed himself as carefree and easy going.

"I know whatchya mean dude. They always make us get into the tin can hours before we leave - without the in-flight radio AND without any food! It's barbaric, the things they do to us," Jude shook his head exaggeratedly sadly. Alex couldn't help but laugh. He just looked so depressed, almost pathetic. Jude grinned at him.

First Heidi, then Jude. Both different, but both lightened his spirits. This trip wouldn't be so bad after all.

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**Oooh Alex loses his cool. I've always wanted to have him do that. Finally new characters and the start of the plot. I think I'll only hint at Alex and Heidi but if you want them together just say so.**

**Just had to make her Eurasian. Sorry, its my pride that made me do it. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Nada.**

**An update! Aren't you guys honored?**

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"OK kids, room assignments!" Jack said this as if they should be happy about it, but the group just wanted beds at three AM in the morning, not overenthusiastic adults who've had too much coffee. "I'm gonna give you roommates - totally randomly."

"Who cares how you're assigning roommates? We don't even their names dude!" Jude said under his breath. Alex smiled at him wearily and stifled a yawn.

Jack examined his list and Alex briefly how he'd react if he ever lost his precious document. "So, Ethan Henderson will room with...Kyle Sanders. Zach Gordon with Aiden Kerrison. Alex McBride with..." Jack paused and scanned the chart. "Jude Campbell..."

"All right dude!" Jude yelled excitedly, temporarily forgetting his sleepiness and held up a hand. "High five!" Laughing at his enthusiasm, Alex high-fived him.

Jack glared at the two and continued down the list until everyone knew the names of their roommates, though most still didn't know who those names belonged to. When he was done he stopped and looked at them expectantly.

"Which rooms are we in?" someone asked loudly from the back.

Realization seemed to wash over him. "Oh right. Well, everyone will be on the same level, on the second floor. Anyway..." Jack rattled on unnecessarily before finally telling them their room numbers, and passing around their keys. Everyone took them thankfully, and dragged their luggage up the long flights of stairs.

"Jack," Jude stated as he dumped his camping backpack on the floor and launched himself onto a bed, "is weird."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Alex agreed, slamming the mahogany door behind him before jumping onto the remaining bed. The pair glanced at each other, recalling the mystified expression on Jack's face and burst out laughing, though part of it was the fact that they hadn't slept in over thirty hours because they had been talking the entire flight.

Jude exhaled deeply. "Man, I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm hitting the sack. G'night dude."

"Night Jude." Alex stretched in his bed, not thinking of anything but sleep.

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"Wakey wakey kids! We're wasting daylight here!" Jack's voice could be heard through the thick wood of their door as if he were yelling in their ears, yanking them out of their deep slumber. There was a banging on the door which hammered into their heads like multiple nuclear explosions. "Get outta bed! Breakfast in ten!" he added before moving on to the next room of unsuspecting victims.

Alex heard Jude roll over in his bed, but thinking it was his own bed, he had underestimated the width and fell out, landing hard on the bare wooden floor.

"Oooooowwww. Dude, I was not designed to wake up," Jude drawled sleepily, curling up on the floor and started to fall asleep once again with his blankets tangled around his body.

Alex sat up in his bed, his joints feeling like they were rusting hinges, and looked over at the digital display on the clock sitting on the table next to him. "Nine?" he groaned and dropped back into bed. "It feels like five."

"Well that's OK with Jack 'cause he's a robot and all he has to do is put in new batteries. But we living organisms need our sleep. We'll steal his spares tonight." Jude joked as he drifted back to sleep."

Alex smiled weakly, still too exhausted to respond with any more. "I'll shower first."

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An hour later, everyone was sitting at a long table in the resort's cafe, eating a calorie-filled breakfast of sugary cereal and gulping bitter black coffee to keep from collapsing into their plates and snoring the day away.

"OK kids!" Jack stood up and scanned the faces of the half-asleep teenagers. "Good to see everyone's up and at 'em! We have a long action-packed day of snow-boarding ahead so eat up!" He beamed at the unresponsive zombies.

"So now he's a travel leaflet," someone on Alex's right mumbled to no one in particular.

Not hearing this, Jack carried on. "After breakfast, we'll be heading over to the supply shed to gear up, but if anyone's brought their own board, they can go ahead without the rest of us."

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Four teenagers stood on their snowboards, poised on the edge of a slope.

Alex and Jude had headed to the ski lift straight after racing up to their rooms to change and retrieve their boards, wanting to be the first on the slopes.

But they were beaten to it.

"Hey Alex!" Heidi greeted him warmly in the freezing air as they waited. She gestured to the tall girl with long auburn hair next to her. "This is my roommate, Brooke Hall. Brooke, this is Alex McBride and his roommate..."

"Jude." Alex finished, quickly remembering that Heidi hadn't met him. "My roommate Jude Campbell. Jude, this is Heidi Marsden."

Brooke slid her goggles to her forehead, revealing her piercing green eyes, and the four shook each others' hands. "Now that the pleasantries are done, who wants to lose?" She grinned at the three, picked up her snowboard and got onto the ski lift that no one else had noticed approaching.

The rest quickly hopped on, clearly not wanting to lose.

Now, they were at the top, admiring the awe-inspiring view of the snow topped rockies in the intense sunshine without a cloud in sight. They were breath taken.

But it didn't last long.

"Last one down has to buy the rest of us drinks!" Brooke declared as she leaned forward and started speeding downhill. Competitively, the others leaned forward and started to coax as much speed as they could from their boards, trying to gain ground on Brooke's head start.

"I'd like some doughnuts with my coffee!" Jude laughed at Brooke as he approached her from behind.

"You read my mind, new slave boy," Heidi said as she pulled ahead of both of them.

"Keep your eyes ahead or all of you will be eating snow." Alex warned them as they came to a drop. Heidi turned from Jude and jumped from the edge, doing a backflip in the air before gracefully on the snow. She turned and grinned at them mockingly.

"Two can play at that game." Brooke hurled herself into the air, Jude a second behind her. She spun and did a 360 while Jude the same right behind her as if it had been choreographed. They hit the ground at the same time and continued trying to beat each other.

Being the last, Alex kept the theatrics to the minimum, simply going over with his hand on the board, trying to gain momentum from his jump. He hit the ground and sped on, gaining on Brooke and Jude ahead of him.

Then they came to the trees.

They entered the group of tall, snow covered pines, and the four were spread out. None knew where the others where but tried to maneuver the upcoming trunks as fast as they could so they didn't have to buy the drinks.

Alex was just swerving past another tree when he caught sight of lone log cabin in a small clearing. He thought nothing of it until he glimpsed an armed guard dressed in combat rounding the corner of the house right before the sped right past.

That was where they were keeping Blunt. It had to be.

I'll check it out tonight, Alex thought to himself, already planning how he'd get there as he broke out of the forest and into the blaring sunlight. He saw Heidi a few meters to his right, level with him. Brooke and Jude were still trying to beat each other behind them, with Jude currently winning.

Using his weight to his advantage, Alex leaned forward, pulling ahead of Heidi. She did the same but with less weight, she couldn't beat him. Gaining confidence, he inched towards her, gaining ground at the same time, trying to mock her. Mistake.

He had been so concentrated on Heidi, he hadn't noticed the upcoming drop until it was too late.

Next thing he knew, he was flying through the air. He held out his arms, trying to stay balanced so he'd land with his board on the snow, but the attempt was in vain. The edge of his board connected with the ground first and he started rolling. In an attempt to salvage his reputation, Alex used the speed from his uncontrollable roll to push his board back onto the snow and continue the race. Miraculously, he wasn't losing pathetically.

But he was still losing. Both Brooke and Jude were ahead of him and gaining ground. He used his weight to get closer to them but they were to close to the finish, where Heidi was waiting for them.

He would never be allowed to live this down.

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**Reviews please! I'll be putting in more action soon, don't worry. Then you'll get to see the gadgets put to action!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider, Tim Hortons, or Starbucks - obviously.**

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"That would be twenty four ninety please," the server stated, obviously wanting to be somewhere, anywhere else. Alex handed the money over the counter, took his change and returned to the booth where the others were waiting with their trays heaped with drinks and food, which they had taken earlier leaving Alex to pay up.

After he finished paying, he joined the others.

"Jude, why are you drinking an ice cap when it's fifty degrees below zero outside?" Brooke asked him.

"I love ice caps! They don't have them this good in London, and it's part of my heritage man."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Heritage?"

"Yeah dude. Tim Hortons is totally Canadian and can't be found anywhere else in the world. Starbucks is a substitute till I come back here."

"Yeah, but aren't you cold?"

"Canadians are more resistant to the cold," Jude grinned. "Canadian pride!"

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Jude was the kind of sleeper Alex envied. He had jumped onto the bed, bid Alex goodnight, turned over and had fallen asleep almost immediately.

For Alex, sleeping was entirely different. Before his uncle died, he had fallen to sleep almost as easily as Jude did. But after witnessing so much in the past year, every time he closed his eyes, all he could see were memories of violence and death replaying under his eyelids. No matter how hard he tried, the images would not stop. Gaping bullet wounds with blood pouring out like water through a collapsed dam. Explosions that ripped people apart. So much life, gone, right in front of him. Wasted, sometimes because of him. This is what haunted him the most.

No one should have to go through that.

No child should have to go through that.

Yet here he was, ready to do it again.

After waiting twenty minutes to make sure Jude wouldn't hear him, Alex pulled back his blanket, grabbed his backpack, crept past his snoring roommate and silently went through the door. Outside, he shut the door as quietly as he could, wincing even at the tiny click it made as it slid in place. With this small challenge overcome, he surveyed the deserted hallway, jumping at every gurgle and hum of the heaters. Sure no one would be any wiser, he went past all the doors, down the stairs and out of the toasty resort, into the freezing air and biting wind outside.

Shivering, Alex pulled his scarf over his nose and threw his board onto the bank of snow that was slowly building up in front of his eyes as icy flakes shot around from the sky by the vicious wind. He pulled up his jacket and tapped his belt buckle twice and the board came to life. With the ski lift closed Alex had no choice but to use the hoverboard.

Not that he minded. If he was going to ride to his death, he may as well enjoy it.

And do it in style.

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Alex tapped his belt buckle and his board slowly floated down to the snow like the last leaf of autumn. When it had settled to the ground, he stepped gracefully off, slid the board under some bushes and snuck behind a tree trunk. Ahead was the ominous dark figure of the log cabin. Alex waited patiently for the guard to round the corner, but after ten minutes of inactivity, he was getting curious. Confused, Alex crept from trunk to trunk until he stumbled out of nowhere and fell flat on his face. Thankful there was no one to see him, he hastily picked himself up and turned to see what he had tripped over.

It was the guard. He was slumped over, bundled like a blanket and leaning against the tree. Alex backed away, afraid he would regain consciousness due to the violent tripping, but the guard did not stir. This was getting weird. Was he drugged? Dead?

Alarmed by this thought, Alex reached over and pressed his fingertips to the man's neck. His pulse was steady. The guard was sleeping like a baby. What happened? And for that matter, where was his gun?

Even though everything was confusing him like heavy fog, Alex decided to go ahead into the cabin. He had been planning to do it with the guard there, and this could be a good thing. Evan wasn't going to knock out his own guard.

Leaving the unconscious man where he was, Alex moved back to his starting point, where the tree line was nearest to the house with a basement window facing him. After surveying the area, Alex ran in a crouch to rectangular window and got ready to break the glass. He leant back and rammed his shoulder at the window, expecting to feel the violent jarring of the bone, but found himself falling through and hitting the floor hard.

Glad that his padded winter clothing kept out both the cold and the deadly shards of glass protruding out of his coat, he picked himself up and looked around. The window had already been broken, and not by accident either by the look of the large pointed rock sitting against the wall like a bored student, banished from class for whatever reason.

Did MI6 send someone else? Then why did they send him? Alex started to feel the deep resentment building up in his gut. They ruined his life. He had almost died numerous times, and here he was, doing their dirty work once again though it seemed they had sent someone else anyway. What was the point? There was no point. He was expendable, probably a decoy.

Is this what it had come to? Throwing young lives away without a second thought? Is this what the world has come to?

He made a face. It was immoral. Unethical. Pathetic. And he wasn't going through with it. Not again.

He inspected himself, pulling pieces of broken glass from his clothes. Once it seemed that he was clean once again, he stepped back to the window and prepared to haul himself back out again.

Two things happened that interrupted him in his plan.

The first was that someone crashed into him from behind, crushing him against the wall and almost breaking his nose.

The second was the shrill sound of alarm bells ringing.

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**And there you have it - after months on inactivity you have a chapter people! No that there are very many of you but I treasure you all.**

**Even if most of you don't review...**

**It'll be a while for the next chapter, with all my homework and everything...but it will come. Just gotta be patient. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters. **

**I wanted to make it longer but I fear I just dragged it out a bit. Sorry it took so long to update though - I was trying to think of a more concrete plan as opposed to random ideas. **

**---------------------------**

Alex panicked.

The person crushing him against the wall was a guard. He didn't even have to turn his head to figure that out, not that he could have if he wanted to - the figure had rammed an arm into Alex's neck, giving him no mobility whatsoever. But as anyone desperate for survival would, he flailed his limbs wildly until an elbow jabbed into some ribs and his attacker grunted, loosening the grip on Alex's neck. Seizing his opportunity, Alex wrenched himself away and lashed out, hitting the black clad guard on the side of the head. He dropped to the basement floor without another sound.

All through this ordeal, the alarm sirens had continued to scream.

Adrenalin pumping, Alex sprang out the window, diving into a snow drift. He picked himself up and ran as best he could through the deep snow. Once in the meager shelter of the forest, he swung round to the direction of his board, knowing security wouldn't be far behind. The sirens still pierced his ears and he would see flashes as search lights scoured the dark trees. Then, barely intelligible under the alarm, came the barks and howls of dogs.

Perfect.

Alex raced towards his board with new urgency, thinking of the crunch that would come when the canines sank their jaws into his legs. Finally, he reached the bush. Almost ripping the plant out of the ground, Alex fumbled to retrieve his board, throwing out in front of him when he found it. He tapped his belt buckle, praying it would not falter, and leaped onto the board when it started to lift off the ground.

Alex leaned forward, gaining speed rapidly. He took the path from earlier in the day when he had been snowboarding with the others, faintly remembering the bends and turns. He went as fast as he dared, darting through the trees at a speed that would kill him if he fell. All along, he could imagine the dogs panting behind him, closing in.

No. He wasn't going to let panic take over. He had been lucky before and he wasn't going to push it. He had to use his brain.

Using all his concentration to prevent the falling to the ground and crushing his bones scenario, Alex had no idea how he could spare a thought to outsmart his pursuers. Then, out of nowhere, came an idea. Whether it came from a book he read, a movie he saw or even just pure unconscious and unheard of logic, he didn't know. He also had no idea whether it would work. But he was going to use it nonetheless.

He bent over and pulled his board vertical, shooting up the trunk of a tall oak tree. Gritting his teeth with concentration, he neared the top, dodging passing branches faster than his brain could process them, relying purely on instinct and reaction. Seeing a sturdy branch close to the top, Alex did a flip from his vertical position and square on the wood, tapping his belt as fast as he could to land and steady himself.

Alex sighed with relief and unclipped his feet from his board. They would never find him here. He could barely see the snow on the forest floor from the darkness and all the evergreen branches in the way. He shuffled awkwardly towards the trunk, seeking stability, struggling not to make any noise or any movement that could be seen or heard from below. Every rustle, every slide he made sounded like it had been pumped through a pair of huge amplifiers to Alex. Upon reaching the trunk, Alex turned and leaned on it, letting his legs dangle from either side of the branch with his board sitting on his lap.

He was almost sure they couldn't see him from the forest floor, so he let his head fall back and rest it on the rough bark of the tree, which felt like a familiar friend, then closed his eyes.

-------------------------

"Dude, didn't you sleep last night?"

Alex's eyes snapped open. He was sitting back at Tim Hortons opposite Jude waiting for Heidi and Brooke to bring coffee and hadn't even realized he had dozed off.

After waiting two hours for the guards to call off the search then another hour to make sure, Alex had finally stumbled into his room at four AM and was met with the sight of Jude's peacefully sleeping silhouette. Sick of sleep deprivation, Alex had collapsed onto his bed without another thought.

"Yeah. A little bit. I've got insomnia," Alex explained. It wasn't entirely untrue.

"Oh. That bites," Jude said sympathetically. Then seemed to forget all about it. "Ready to kick some chick butt today?"

Even exhausted, Alex couldn't help but smile at Jude's good humored nature and sense of equality. It would also make him seem nicer when he won. If he had enough energy to do so.

"I was born ready, if you'll excuse the cliche." Jude grinned, happy with the response.

"I heard that. And no, you are nowhere near ready," Heidi came up from behind him, holding a tray with two hot coffees and two ice caps. Brooke was next to her, with a box of doughnuts.

Alex ignored her comment. "Two ice caps?"

"Yep. I was gonna get one yesterday, but my teeth already felt like they were icicles. I like these better anyway." She plonked the tray on the table, almost causing the coffee sloshing around in the cups to spill. She slid into the booth, much to Alex's disappointment, next to Jude, and picked up an ice cap. Glad to share the experience, Jude picked up the remaining cup of iced coffee and did the same.

Brooke sat down next to Alex, setting down the box with more care than Heidi, and opened the lid, revealing a half dozen of freshly made doughnuts. The glaze shone in the fluorescent light and Alex forgot all about ice and only had eyes for his breakfast. If he had been a cartoon, there would have been a puddle of drool on the table.

"Dude I think we may need more doughnuts," Jude laughed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry myself. I'll get some more," Heidi put her arm on the table to push herself up, but paused. Alex looked up, wondering what the problem was, but Heidi quickly moved on and walked past him to the counter.

Brooke excused herself to go to the bathroom and Alex started to wolf down the doughnuts. They tasted like heaven in his mouth and soon all six were gone before his brain had even processed it.

"Whoa dude!" Jude acted amazed. "You're like some crazy starving person. Better tell Heidi to get more." He got up and walked to the line where their companion was waiting to get to the cashier.

With the edge taken off of his hunger, Alex settled down and sipped at his cup of scalding coffee, almost able to relax. Of course, after everything, he would never relax again. But this was good enough for him. For the moment anyway, he was content.

Despite the sugar rush provided by the large amount of consumed doughnut and the caffeine from his coffee, Alex still fell asleep.

He hadn't even noticed. One second he was leaning against the back of his chair, waiting for his new friends, the next he was being shaken awake.

"Dude, I would let you sleep, but I won't let you waste the ski trip away in dreamland. Have another doughnut to get your blood pumping and we'll split."

Jude slid a plate with a chocolate glazed doughnut sitting on it in front of him. It seemed to glow in his semi-concious state. He stuffed the food into his mouth and pulled himself out of the booth.

------------------------

"Where's your roommate Heidi?" Alex asked, suddenly realizing Brooke wasn't with them.

"She said she wasn't feeling well. Headache. Why? You happy there's less competition?" She smirked at him as they threw their boards to the snow on the ledge.

"Not even close. In fact, I was disappointed there was none, now that there's just the two of you."

"Ooh the pain!" Jude held his chest as if he'd been stabbed.

"Ooh you are going down man. Way down." Heidi finished fastening her feet to her board. "You ready for it?"

"Yep."

"Let's go!"

The three pushed off and started boarding.

Jude was in the lead first, zig-zaging through the snow and showing off. Alex came second, trying to gain on his roommate with Heidi coming up fast behind him. They were headed to the forest, taking the same route as the day before, where the cabin was.

For a split second, Alex was worried. What if they ran into the guards? Should he call for them to turn back? But this disappeared as he reasoned with himself. He had been the only one at the cabin, and no one had seen him. They were safe.

They entered the tree line, losing sight of each other, swerving around trunks and ducking to avoid whipping branches. Alex could feel his adrenaline pumping through his veins and pulse climbing. He was having his sugar rush from all the doughnuts he had consumed, and he thoroughly forgot the danger he had been in the night before. He laughed to himself, almost hysterically. Die? Him? Nah.

Alex broke out of the trees, without a trace of the other two. He yelled with victory, ecstatic that he was winning and raced down the slope. At the end, he slid to a stop, panting, and fell backwards into the snow, sugar rush diminishing. It was a small triumph, one that hardly mattered in the long run, but for some reason he was bursting with happiness.

Funny what effect doughnuts had on a distressed underaged undercover spies.

-----------------------------

As the sun set on the icy landscape, Alex's spirits set with it. Night had fallen which meant one thing.

He had to go back to the lodge.

Not the nicest thought in the world, but it had to be done.

Alex picked at his food during dinner, barely paying attention to what anyone was saying, too depressed by the fact that MI6 controlled his life which he was about to risk yet again. Not to mention the whole issue of making friends he couldn't tell anything to and would never see again.

Someone started snapping their fingers in front of his face, bringing him out of his reverie.

"Are you OK?" Heidi asked him. "You've been staring at that potato for ten minutes and you didn't even react when Jack tripped over his chair and crashed into a waiter carrying full wine glasses, which by the way, was hilarious."

"Yeah dude. It was a classic and you didn't even blink! Need another doughnut or somethin'?" Jude asked him from his other side as ran his hand through his hair and reached for another helping of twice baked potato.

"No I'm fine. I think I'm just tired.."

"Yeah that happens when you're high on excessive sugar," Heidi grinned at him from across the table. "Better turn in early junkie."

"Good idea." He might even slip in a nap before sneaking out.

--------------------------

"What?"

Alex froze. He was barely out of the door and was completely hidden by shadows. How could anyone have seen him?

"Shh! Why don't you hit the fire alarm too?" another voice hissed to the first one. Alex could barely make out the words let alone tell who it was talking but he knew the second one was feminine. "We should go somewhere else..."

They were just around the corner, and the odds were, they were coming straight towards him. Not wanting to find himself in the middle of a lover's quarrel, Alex turned and ran for the forest. As he ran he could hear the voices fade away behind him.

Good. He got away.

He turned his head as he ran, just in case the couple had caught sight of his retreating figure, but all he saw were shadows. Short of breath from running in the thin freezing air and feeling the beginnings of a cramp in his abdomen, Alex bent down and panted hard, puffs of smoke like vapor pouring out of his mouth with each breath.

"Are you OK?"

Alex's head shot up with such speed and violence, he could actually hear his neck crack. The combined power unexpected stab of pain and the gravity of the slope tipped him over into the snow. A hand reached down and pulled him up.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." Alex found himself looking into the face of none other than the unattainable Heidi.

"Wha- what are you doing here?" Alex stuttered. Was she the one he had heard by the resort? Who was she with?

"Taking a walk."

"Do you normally take walks in the woods at night by yourself?"

"No. Normally the risk of death from air pollution is too high. I'm looking at the stars," she answered, pointing upwards as if he were a young child who needed reminding where stars were found.

"Oh."

"And you were...?" She trailed off, waiting for him to finish the sentence. But for some reason his mind went blank.

"Uh...I'm...out here...to..." his eyes wandered through the landscape, searching for inspiration. "I'm here to board!"

The girl lifted an eyebrow and Alex couldn't tell whether it was amusement or confusion. "Right. Practicing to beat us again I assume. Have fun trying, 'cause it isn't gonna happen. Goodnight." And without waiting for an answer, she turned and headed for the resort.

Despite all that he had been through in the last year, it was probably the strangest conversation he had ever had.

And that was saying a lot.

**--------------------------**

**There you have it. I'll try to update more often. **

**Oh and criticism is always welcome. But try not to tear me down too much.**

**So are reviews.**


	8. AN

**I'm sorry everyone, but lately its been REALLY hectic. I just never found the time to write anything!!**

**But now that the summers coming up, I'll have tons of time. And I've got a bunch of new ideas too! Hopefully I'll have less of a writers block...**

**And I am now motivated by all them reviews!!**

**This next one won't take nearly as long :)**


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am a sad broke kid. -runs away and cries-**

**--**

"This sucks."

Alex froze and his eyes scoured the forest for whoever it was who was complaining so loudly.

"Yeah, I know," came the reply as the voices neared. Alex dove behind a tree as two men carrying guns came into view.

"The man's gone nuts. What makes him think anything is going to happen? There's no shelter for miles in all directions, there are only some old drooling idiots with some coffee addicted kids at the resort - and he's making us wander around pointlessly around in the snow!"

"Yeah. But it's a living," the other man said wearily.

"What's he so scared about anyway? It isn't like he's got a million bucks worth of pot hidden anywhere. This is stupid." The complainer turned and spat into the snow as if this helped resolve his problem. Taking a look at him, Alex could see this wasn't his only problem. His nose looked like it had been broken fourteen times in the past year, and that was probably the best feature left of his face.

"Yeah. But it'll all be over by the end of the week." It seemed the ordinary-looking man with the dark goatee was getting tired of the whole process. A pack of cigarettes appeared in Ugly's hand and the pair wordlessly began to smoke.

Thinking they might be there for a while, Alex stashed his board and snuck around them. After some quick dodging and a close call with some men who decided it'd be fun to write their names in the snow with their urine, Alex finally made it to where he had been the night before.

Evan Blunt was obviously taking the alarm seriously if he was making his men wander around in the forest, yet there was nothing different about the building to suggest anything had happened. It still just looked like an old lodge.

What was he planning? Maybe it was time for some more undercover work and find out.

Alex snuck around the wood and found a lone man relieving himself against the bark of a helpless tree. What was it with these guards and their bladders? It was like they were all peeing all the time.

As his new unsuspecting victim was zipping up his fly, Alex came up behind him and knocked him out silently, catching him as he fell. Within a minute, Alex was suited up in the guard's uniform jacket, and the unconscious man was tied up in the bushes.

At this point, the teenager decided it was a good idea to infiltrate the cabin, and headed towards the guard tower. The night before, he had noticed them changing shifts and didn't want to be late. It was probably going to be his best and only chance.

Sauntering as casually as can be, Alex wandered to the cabin's door and swiped the card he had taken from his special friend with bladder control problems. Easy. He heard a rabble of voices: bored men with nothing to do but drink beer, watch ice hockey and yell at the TV screen whenever their teams scored or missed. Both the results sounded the same though.

Now where would a kidnapper keep his very important yet very irritating brother? From what he had seen on TV, they were usually locked in the closet until an angry parent got them out. In this situation though, it seemed that his best bet was to go downstairs: the typical temporary holding cell, which often also doubled as an evil lair where all the plans for world dominion were plotted.

With this in mind, Alex searched the hallways, looking carefully in the closets. Nothing. Only a staircase leading to the basement, and he'd already been there, as his sore nose remembered too well.

He was so occupied, he didn't even hear the voices until he had almost stepped around the corner. He bent down and glanced around the corner as light flooded into the hallway from an open doorway. Two guards were talking loudly to each other and one absent-mindedly felt for a book and pulled it back. It was so pathetically cliche, Alex had to stop himself from laughing out loud. The men walked into a doorway that swung open and headed down some stairs. He made note of the book, and was just sneaking over when a pair of hand yanked him backwards.

The hands twisted his arm back painfully and covered his mouth, while the owner of the hands dragged him backwards into, of all things, a closet. The hands let him go and all Alex could see was the figure of a body in the dark. Light appeared in the hands and he could see their owners' face.

"Hello Alex."

It was Heidi.

**--**

**Yes I know some of you must've guessed it already. But hey, that was part of the point. I'll try my very best to update faithfully, now that I have been reminded of this story's existence.**

**Sorry you had to wait so long. I may have lost my touch slightly but hopefully you guys still enjoy it.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Crap, this has been sitting here for ages, and I completely forgot about it! **

**To anyone that's still keeping track: I'm really sorry!!!!! I totally get it if you've abandoned this by now. **

--

Alex spent a long time staring at Heidi in complete and utter shock at first, then realized that it all made sense. He remembered that pause as she slid out of the booth, the morning after the figure attacked him. The unconscious guard in the snow. How she appeared out of nowhere earlier. Why she stumbled over her name when he first met her and seemed just as disgusted by that book he was holding as he was.

Even as he stared at her with his eyes bulging to the point where they were in danger of popping right out of their sockets, he noticed how well built she was, the well defined lines of the muscles in her arms where her sleeve had been rolled up and the graceful control of her board when they raced.

And he, like the stupid drooling fool he was, had missed it all. But the real question was, quite frankly:

"_Who the hell are you?_"

"Ah, I knew that was going to come up." She started rummaging around in the closet, taking random things out of all kinds of places; out of buckets, behind bottles. Small objects that she hid from his view as she tucked them into her many pockets. "Well, you seem to have guessed I'm not exactly who you thought I was."

Somewhat obvious, but he silently waited for her to continue.

"I am, in fact, your contact." At this Alex remembered what Mrs Jones had said before he left. "She who sucks the mint out of peppermints and life out of people made me come. Which was annoying, considering I don't even work for her, but I came anyway. I may not answer to her, but I do have to answer to someone...but the point is, I'm backup. They figured Blunt was too important for them to send you here on your own to get."

Well that was just wrong on all kinds of levels.

"But the whole thing was just a huge waste of time because he _isn't even here_! I've searched this entire freaking mountain and he's nowhere...unbelievable..." She started grumbling under her breath about the injustice of it all, including a very colorful bank of swear words. At least he was learning something.

"If you're my contact, then what took you so long to contact me?! And why did you attack me?"

"Oh, yeah that was because I didn't know who you were. I thought you were another guard. As for what took so long, well, I never really saw you do much, so I figured I'd wait till you started snooping-" She stopped abruptly, interrupted by voices outside.

"...crazy. He's crazy I tell you: making us jump around all over the place. England, here, now Hong Kong? Can't he just stay in one place?"

"I dunno. I don't get it either. But he pays well, and we get to stay in some pretty nice places. I've always wanted to travel. Not quite what I had in mind..."

The Complainer and Silver Lining man walked past and Heidi turned to Alex with a grin on her face. "Looks like we got our break. Get your stuff. Its time to take a trip to the wonderful city of Hong Kong."

--

**Yeah, short. But I don't even remember what I was going for anymore. Will figure it out, or do something different...**


	11. Chapter 10

**Just a short chapter. Am still trying to think things through because I don't remember where I was going with this.**

**-----**

"God! This place is so hot! It isn't even April and I feel like I'm going to melt into a puddle." Heidi wiped her brow with the back of her hand and swept her hair out of her face as the pair walked down a crowded street. If he had heard his new accomplice correctly, it was called Fa Yuen street. As if all of the people weren't enough to cause claustrophobe to go into cardiac arrest, there were tall, pollution-stained buildings looming on either side. But this was Hong Kong: claustrophobes didn't have a chance in this city where everything was cramped and stacked together.

Fa Yuen street was a street that locals flocked to buy cheap clothing. Why buy the real thing when you can get it at half the price with words that look like they're spelt correctly? It wasn't surprising that someone had taken it into their heads that it was a good idea to randomly toss glass bottles of hydrochloric acid out the window and into the throngs of people.

It was probably the only way for a neglected and misunderstood claustrophobic person to express themselves.

"Look! That guy was wearing a jacket! How can he wear a jacket in this weather?"

To that Alex had no reply. He simply shrugged and prayed that she didn't spot the goosebumps that had appeared on his bare arms as a breeze swept over him.

Heidi, who was obviously much more observant than he had ever given her credit for, had seen them and was already rolling her eyes at him. So much for his manliness.

Then again, much of it had started draining away ever since he had met this girl. He had to get away from her before his ego had completely deflated. Until then though...

His line of thought was interrupted when he was simultaneously shoved from behind by a stray elbow and smacked in the shoulder by a swinging bag.

"Come on Alex!" Heidi called back to him as she was enveloped by the crowd in front of him. "Honestly, how are you going to survive what's waiting for us if you can't even get yourself through a crowd?"

Alex deftly weaved through a group of teenaged girls who all had the same hairstyle and managed to catch up. "Why are we here?" He would have asked a couple more questions, but someone in high heeled shoes happened to step on his foot and he was trying hard not to release a huge, loud string of swear words.

"Because I really want that cute T-shirt with the monkey on it." she answered, motioning to a rack that was sitting at the entrance of a store they were in front of. He raised his eyebrows, not quite sure whether to believe her as she walked grabbed it and took it to the cashier.

He gave her a questioning look as she walked out with a plastic bag and she scoffed as she dove back into the crowd. _This crowd is unbelievable!_

Heidi was waiting for him to navigate through the deadly pack of tourists. "Of course I'm not wasting our time to go shopping! It's not like we're normal or anything."

"But-" before he could say anything, Alex found himself being pushed over again. This was ridiculous! After everything he had been through, after cheating death so many times, for whatever reason, he couldn't even seem to handle a Hong Kong crowd.

"You're hopeless at this. Come on." Heidi grabbed his hand and led him through the street like a lost puppy. "I'll show you why we're really here." She suddenly turned to the left and yanked Alex after her, into an alcove that was actually a doorway to one of the buildings. It was a heavy-looking and rusted metal door that swung open silently when his new comrade pushed it open to reveal an ominous and grimy flight of stairs.

"So what's waiting for us at the top?" Alex silently prayed that she would tell him that this was really a luxury hotel where he could get a good night's sleep and wake up from this horrible, polluted and jet-lagged nightmare.

Well, it doesn't hurt to pray.

Heidi's face went from slightly-amused-at-lost-boy to a pained one. That was bad news for Alex's fantasy of sleep.

"We're here to meet up with my boss."

**-----**

**Yeah, I'm out of practice and haven't read the books in a while. So I'd appreciate it if you guys could review and critique. Thanks to anyone still reading.**


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